The work of Peruvian Marxist José Carlos Mariátegui stands out for its creativity regarding the indigenous question and the defense of the political independence of the proletariat, understood as the leadership of the oppressed masses. He developed his theories and his organizational efforts during a period of contentious political debates within the Communist International. In this article we outline how Amauta brought to his political practice the tactics of the Unified Proletarian Front and the Unified Anti-Imperialist Front. Our hypothesis is that, despite articulating the first tactic, of the unity of the proletariat, the content of his work corresponded more closely to the second tactic, as evidenced in his theoretical and organizational effort to aggregate the indigenous masses to the socialist project.

Keywords: Mariátegui, socialism, indigenism, front tactic